Marks of Time
by cinnamoncandle
Summary: (SDR2 spoilers) Waking up isn't easy when time has left so many scars on you. When your future crumbles, living on becomes more and more difficult. Prologue: March 14th


_"Okay, so how do we start?"_  
_Seven teenagers were sat in a dim room with unease. Their gazes wandered from one to another. A group that hoped to save the world, but not one of them knew how to create an artificial person._

_"I think Fukawa is the most suitable person to take care of this, is she not?" Togami spoke after breaking the silence._  
_"Me?" The girls voice questioned, surprised._  
_"Indeed." Togami replied, his gaze sharp and thoughtful. "You're a writer, correct? You've created characters before, so you should know how to design one."_

_"But that was different!" Fukawa shouted, only to immediately regret raising her voice. Embarrassed, she quickly looks at the floor, crest fallen. "I don't know if I can handle this. "That's why we're all here for you." Naegi declared, smiling at her encouragingly. "You don't have to do this alone. "Of course we'll help you!" Komaru said, sounding enthusiastic as ever. "Even amazing people like Fukawa-san sometimes need a little help from their friends."_

_Fukawa looked at everyone's faces. She shouldn't have doubts at moments like this. They had a very important task to complete, but still she couldn't help the feeling of uncertainty that flooded her from head to toe. But they were right. They were her friends. Her friends, that wouldn't leave her alone. Her friends, which believed in her and her abilities. With that thought, she exhaled loudly._  
_"Okay." She stood up raising a pile of papers from her desk. "Let's get started immediately."_

_The rest gathered around her as she lost herself in thought. "First of all, should it be a he or she?"_  
_"If it's a girl it'll be easier to form bonds and gain the trust of everybody." Kirigiri spoke. "If we give her a calm and warm demeanour, it will be guaranteed that she will easily get along with the other students."_  
_"Okay, so a girl." Fukawa wrote on her piece of paper, drawing a few lines here and there. "Since she's a Hope's Peak student she needs a proper title, what should her talent be?"_

_"Ooh, how about something geeky?" Yasuhiro exclaimed. "Nerdy girls are so cute!" He would've continued speaking if it wasn't for Asahina who elbowed him in the ribs._  
_"Nerdy? You mean the glasses-wearing, book-reading type of females?" Fukawa said un amused, raising her brow._  
_"No, but it may actually be a good idea." Makoto thought. "Like, something pleasant she would do in her free time, while excelling at it."_  
_"A gamer maybe?" Aoi suggested._  
_"Sounds fine." Togami decided._  
_"A gamer girl? How ordinary…" Fukawa voiced, sighing quietly, but wrote it nevertheless. "Now we get to the fun part - what should she be like?"_

_Ideas were thrown from everywhere. "She should be Intelligent." From Kyouko. "Calm." From Togami. "Kind." From Naegi. Fukawa was creating, giving life to a whole new person. How long has it been since the last time she properly used her talent? Her memory was a blur. In the times they lived in, there was no place for fantasies. Cruel reality tried destroying them everyday, so they had to remain vigilant for every danger that might occur. Still, losing herself in daydreams was the one thing that used to keep her on the edge of sanity. When the real world was too much to handle, fiction was her escape._

_Maybe that was why she felt sympathy for the girl that was eventually created. Conceived with Fukawa's own hands, the girl was a child of her mind. Komaru stayed late at night with her to finish the work refusing to sleep without her, despite Fukawa's request. Despite not admitting it however, Komaru's presence felt encouraging, even if she was yawning and rubbing her eyelids._

_When they finished, they sat back, exhausted yet fulfilled. Everyone else was already sleeping, so they were the only awake ones remaining in the office. Smiling tiredly at each other, they promised to remember the date._  
_March fourteenth._  
_The day Chiaki Nanami was born._


End file.
